Warner Bros. triumphed at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, winning 11 Oscars, including best picture and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another' and best original screenplay for Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners'. The studio's co-heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy were widely praised during the ceremony, with Michael B. Jordan thanking them for 'betting on original ideas and original artistry'.
The success comes amid persistent rumours that De Luca and Abdy were on the verge of being replaced by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav last spring. However, a spokesperson for WBD denied that Zaslav ever sought new studio heads. The pair's strategy of backing risky, auteur-driven films with large budgets has been validated by the awards haul, though recent box office returns have been mixed.
Meanwhile, Zaslav's planned $110 billion sale of Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount cast a shadow over the celebrations. Industry figures fear that Paramount chairman David Ellison, who has ties to the Trump administration, may not grant the same artistic freedom. At the Vanity Fair after-party, actress Jane Fonda wore a 'no mergers' pin and criticised the deal, saying it would lead to job losses and political control over content.
De Luca and Abdy were brought in to revitalise Warner Bros. in 2022 after the studio's decision to release its entire slate on HBO Max during the pandemic angered directors like Christopher Nolan. The pair have since offered bigger budgets and more autonomy to filmmakers, including a $90 million budget for 'Sinners' and a deal giving Coogler the copyright back after 25 years. However, recent films such as 'One Battle After Another' and 'The Bride!' have underperformed at the box office, raising questions about the sustainability of their approach.
